The Book Bindery

This gorgeous collaboration at a working winery on the banks of the Seine—or a ship canal that glimmers uncannily like it—showcases the comfort-tinged Northwest cuisine of local boy and Per Se alum Shaun McCrain. The subdued loveliness of the interior, with its creamy wainscoting and fields of marble, harks to a more formal age of restaurant dining, only without a whisper of overpriced stuffiness. In its way so do McCrain's plates; full meals which put modern garb on a meat-and-potatoes aesthetic in masterpieces like a roasted pork chop with maple-bourbon jus over white bean puree with kale, or glazed lamb shank with Nicoise tomatoes and artichoke hearts. Appetizers are more minimalist, desserts more homespun, and servers display glimmers of arrogance. Hard to blame them.